Cat will not eat her prescription cat food

[Calicoandkitty]

Hello. I posted here a few days ago about my cat being diagnosed with bladder stones. Long story short, she’s been having urinary tract infections on and off for a little over 2 years and she recently had a very bad one that required me to take her to the emergency vet where they diagnosed the bladder stones. She was very difficult and wouldn’t let them get a urine sample so we are unsure of what kind of stones they are so they said to try the food and check back in a month before deciding if she needs surgery or not. Well she absolutely refuses to eat the food. I’ve tried mixing her old food in it, spoon feeding her, adding broth, and water and nothing is working. I just ordered the dry food version of it to see if maybe she’ll eat that one but I’m just at a loss here, I’ve never seen her refuse food this much (she’s pretty heavy) so this is just a mess. Any advice would be appreciated!
P.S she is currently on antibiotics so her symptoms are improving but I know the infection will come back soon without the proper treatment.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. There are 3 different types of prescription urinary care foods, Royal Canin, Hill's, and Purina. Try whatever of these 3 she didn't get yet.

The antibiotics could be upsetting her stomach too, making her less interested in eating. As a test of that, give her a bit of her usual food, by itself, to see if she will eat it. That way you'll know how much the antibiotics might be bothering her, or if it is solely this new food. Also, she should be eating food alongside of the antibiotics to help offset any stomach distress. If she will eat lickable treats, one or more of them might be the way to ensure she gets her antibiotics without it 'tainting' her food.

How did they determine she has stones if they couldn't get a urine sample? By x-ray? Infections don't always have to happen because of stones, so it might not actually be the stones causing her to get UTIs, although they are likely contributing to it if she has them. What is the past history in terms of testing with her previous UTIs?

It will be best of you can manage to get a urine sample to have it tested, to better know what all you might be dealing with. Free catch is one way, if you can place a sterile utensil under her while she pees. Most vet offices will give you for free a pipette to collect the pee from the sterile utensil and place it in a test tube. If you can't get the test tube to the vet right away, you can keep it in the fridge for a few hours. Just call your vet and ask about this approach.

There are also non-absorbent litters that you can use in lieu of 'real' litter and then collect the urine from it with a pipette (and test tube). The latter two items are sold with the litter. Just make sure to thoroughly clean the box beforehand. Vets sell it too, but it is often not enough for the litter box, and even if it is, they charge a whole lot more.
KIT4CAT Cat Urine Sample Collection Kit Urine Testing for Cats, 2-lb bag - Chewy.com

 

[Calicoandkitty]

Hi, thank you for your response! Her stones were diagnosed with an X-ray at the emergency vet. Right now she has hills prescription urinary c/d. She is very bad at the vet and they normally have to sedate her but the sedation didn’t work this time so they weren’t able to get a sample and the last time she had a uti they couldn’t get a sample either because she peed in her carrier. I haven’t called her regular vet yet hoping she would eat the food and I could have a month before i had to take her.

 

[Alldara]

I've had good luck with the Purine Urinary. Nobel didn't like the Hills. We never tried the Royal Canin.

Give one of the other two a try though!

 

[Calicoandkitty]

Do I need to have a different prescription for the other brands?

 

[Alldara]

Do I need to have a different prescription for the other brands?

Shouldn't. You should just be able to call you vet office and let them know the issue and change over. They all fall under the same urinary prescription, at least here in Canada.

 

[di and bob]

There are supplements you can buy at Amazon etc. for bladdre and stone problems, tehy wouln't hurt. Clear it with your vet though. I give my cats DMG, once a day, every day too, they have FeLV and need to keep their immune systems up. That would help hers too. I put it in some Delectable Lickables and they lap it right up.

 

[skiptomylou]

Is it possible to sprinkle some fortiflora on the food to see if she’ll eat it? You don’t need much. It has a flavoring in it cats tend to love.